


Raven's Dream

by Bloominglavenders



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Emotional, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Photography, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Strangers to Lovers, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:07:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29479677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloominglavenders/pseuds/Bloominglavenders
Summary: tw/ this story includes implications of suicide, if this triggers you please do not read-Leaning his head over the edge of the bridge: Clay braced himself for flight. He expected to see varied hues of cars zipping below him in mists, instead, a pale hand clutched the base of the railing below him.-Meeting George was a burst of bright light in Dream's dark life, and meeting Dream allowed George to restart his.After his parents kicked him out, George meets Dream, who conveniently lives in a frat house with a free room. The only problem is, The Frat won't allow a stranger in, so Dream has to pretend he has known George for years. For some reason, the pale stranger already feels familiarorDream has to pretend the pale stranger he brought off the street is only a friend, while their true bond goes much deeper.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 66





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer (PLEASE READ):  
> Although suicide is never explicitly mentioned, it is strongly implied throughout this story. If you are triggered by suicide or topics relating to suicide, please do not read this story.  
> If you are triggered by suicide or topics relating to suicide and decide to ignore my warning, please do not take the actions of the characters in this story as advice; this is a story and is not therapy. 
> 
> If you struggle with suicidal thoughts, I urge you to please reach out for help.  
> Hotlines: 
> 
> http://www.pleaselive.org/hotlines/
> 
> You are loved.

Sharp winds crashed into Clay, jostling the already messy nature of his blond locks. The sounds of passing cars filtered through him without being comprehended, and the grey lines of streetlights blended into the blue sky: everything around him became a senseless blur. His hands gripped the metal railing of the overpass bridge - the cool object was the only thing grounding his existence. 

Every inch of his being was exhausted with his current reality. He was tired of the large weight that constantly crushed his chest; he was tired of the invisible bars that continually constrained his movement. He wanted to be free. 

A crow dipped into Clay’s line of vision - the bird’s black figure stole his attention away from the murky winter sky. Midnight wings cut through the stagnant atmosphere, soaring high and low, before splitting into a jagged spin. 

Leaning his head over the edge of the bridge: Clay braced himself for flight. He expected to see varied hues of cars zipping below him in mists, instead, a pale hand clutched the base of the railing below him. 

Bloodshot brown eyes stared firmly into his. The languid passing of time became scalding and sharp. Seconds raced past Clay as unending drafts of air pulled the boy’s dangling body from left to right. With shaking movements, Clay enclosed the boy’s pale hands and pulled - depositing a mess of slender limbs on the pavement. 

“Are you okay?” Clay panted, air running in and out of his lungs far too quickly. Clay had wanted peaceful soaring before quiet destruction; that desire was quickly forgotten - fated to collect dust in an abandoned corner of his mind. Leaning over the boy’s prone body, Clay only wanted to help.

It would have been logical to ask, what were you doing on the bridge, then again, questions are only useful if the answer is unknown. Clay knew. 

The boy’s chest rapidly rose and fell with breath as tears glistened on his pale cheeks. Softly rolling onto his side, the boy erupted in laughter. His laugh didn’t ring bright like a bell; it was muggy and tainted by dejection. To Clay, the boy’s laughter sounded like a soft melody. His sadness was somehow enclosed in delicate honey.

Sitting on the pavement next to the boy leaking with humor and melancholy, Clay just watched. From the ground, the boy’s facial expression came more into focus. The heat of his burning smile was only quieted by his tears. Fire and water fused on his face to create an ethereal smoke that shielded the stranger’s true feelings. 

The boy’s laughter tapered off into a whisper. “I’m still breathing.” He spoke in a faded British dialect, like his intensity of his accent had been exhausted with distance from his home country. 

“And that’s a good thing.” The words ran together with Clay’s desperation to confirm the stranger wasn’t implying something more ominous. “It’s a good thing to be alive.” Clay said, but the sentence came out sounding more like a question. 

“It is what you make of it.” The stranger sat up from his laying position. “Everything is what you make of it.” Hugging his legs to his chest, the boy buried his face in his knees. “What the hell am I going to make of this?” He mumbled. 

Clay stared at the black waves of hair cascading from the top of the boy’s head. “Like you said, you can make whatever you want out of it.” The black locks reminded him of the swerving crow. “Just don’t try to fly away again.” 

“I have nowhere to go, but away.” The boy revealed his eyes from his knees, and new tears glistened in them like stars. Clay wanted one of them to shoot down the boy’s face, so he could wish upon it. 

“Do you need a ride? Do you have a house where I can drop you off?” A small seed of pity planted itself into Clay’s chest when the boy shook his head. Thick vines arose from the seed with the boy’s steady eye-contact; the quiet gloom stirring in the boy’s eye was a perfect reflection of Clay’s own. The vines slowly wrenched around Clay’s weak heart, pulling kindness from his chest. “There’s a spare room in the Frat House I live in.” He offered, logic forgotten. 

-

“So, you’re telling me that British kid you brought is a family friend and he has nowhere else to go but here?” Punz, the Frat President, questioned with his blonde eyebrows raised in skepticism. 

“Yes, his name is. . .” Clay trailed off when he realized he didn’t even know the stranger’s name. The boy’s resemblance to a crown re-entered Clay’s mind. “His name is Raven, and his family became acquainted with my father when he was on a business trip.”

With the mention of Clay’s father, Punz’s inclination to refuse shrunk. “Well, you know I trust you.” Punz sighed, his voice absent of sincerity. “You know where the empty room is. You can show it to him.” He muttered as Clay turned away from him. 

Clay’s socked feet left the plush crimson carpet of the foyer as he climbed the dark wood staircase that led to the junior’s rooms. He passed a dozen or so decorated white doors, some emitted quiet music; some released the sounds of muffled conversations, before reaching his own room at the end of the hallway. 

Clay remembered how the stranger’s eyes had lingered on each passing door before uttering a prediction about each room owner like, ‘this guy has to be a douche’ while stood in front of a door covered with football stickers. When the stranger’s eyes laid upon Clay’s white door, the only door bare of decorations in the hall, no comments left his mouth. 

“Listen,” Clay started, busting through the door. “I had to lie about a few things to get you in here.” The stranger’s torso remained leaned against Clay’s wooden headboard - his body wasn’t startled by Clay’s fast intrusion. He only ripped his eyes from where they were settled, a camera he was carefully fidgeting with, and settled his gaze on Clay. “Wait, is that my camera?” 

White light penetrated the space between Clay and the boy in his bed, temporality blinding Clay as the boy snapped a picture. “Yeah.” A blurry mess of tanned hands reaching to cover mossy green eyes and golden locks leaping into the air with movement - the frenzied moment lay in the camera. “You moved.” 

“Because you turned the flash on.” Clay stole the camera and focused it on the pale face in front of him. As Clay approached the side of the bed the stranger sat on dark eyes stared straight into the lens. 

The color was familiar. They shared a hue with the black night sky - whose calming presence had shushed the anxieties in Clay’s roaring mind a million times over. Looking into the deep black iris, a breath of peace swirled around him, and the abrasive clumsiness he usually felt with strangers smoothed. 

Turning the camera, Clay captured half of the boy’s face in the picture. “Hey, you didn’t take my whole face.” The boy commented, taking the camera back. 

“We’re not talking about that.” Clay signed, disregarding the boy’s comment. He didn’t like how easily he could distract him. “Look, to get you in here I had to pretend I knew you.” He explained. “Your name is Raven and we’re close family friends. Our fathers met on a business trip - their relationship bloomed from there.”

“Raven.” The stranger tested the name on his tongue. “Okay, I’m Raven.” The stranger seemed pretty eager to become someone else.


	2. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The roof was empty except for Clay, and the night breeze’s whisper. Midnight darkness embraced his laying form, shading his already tanned limbs. The bareness of the sky left enough space for Clay - his thoughts meandered around the unending black, bouncing off shining stars. Scraps of music and yelling were the only reminder of the party Clay had escaped. 
> 
> Footsteps interrupted his perfect harmony. Sitting up on the rough concrete, Clay was ready to shoo the intruder, but a pale boy entered his sight. “Raven?” He greeted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// implied anxiety 
> 
> At the beginning of the chapter, Dream experiences mild anxious feelings. If this triggers you feel free to skip the beginning, the end of this section is marked by a '-' or you can feel free not to read this at all. Your mental health is important, remember your boundaries :)
> 
> also just to clarify so no one will be confused, the character referred to as 'Raven' is George.

His thin plastered walls and flimsy wooden door were a useless defense against the rampant party. Booming music ruined Clay’s attempt at tranquil sleep. Senselessly, his body flopped from position to position: each one resulting in less comfort than the last. 

Mossy green eyes shot open in vast irritation. Air conditioning cooled his bare abdomen as he abandoned his warm bed for his closet. Reluctantly, he swapped pajamas for sweatpants paired with a t-shirt and the comfort of his small bedroom for the bustling environment of a frat party. 

Artificial colors from cheap LED lights danced around the dim first floor, enveloping the packed crowd of party-goers in rainbow hues. Green, blue, and yellow lights highlighted Clay’s moving body, as he maneuvered through the humid room. 

Clay’s dull mood clashed with the vibrant atmosphere surrounding him. While the room burst with loose laughter and thoughtless dancing, he grimly grabbed a cup of alcohol. The cheeriness of the room didn’t soak into Clay, instead, it wrung around his neck - suffocating him. 

“What the fuck is up?” A familiar voice yelled behind Clay.

Clay turned to his close friend, whose arms enclosed two girls. “Shit, Sapnap, you scared me.” Typically, Clay appreciated Sapnap’s energetic presence; His friend’s endless yells were usually returned with equal intensity, but Clay wasn’t feeling typical. Sapnap’s screeching voice was a dominant siphon in Clay’s brain, draining his already dwindling strength. 

“My friend Amy wanted to meet you.” Leaning in, Sapnap’s hot breath scraped Clay’s ear. “I sold you to her really well, man.” The short red-head under Sapnap’s arm smiled up at Clay. 

It was too much. Sapnap’s warm breath melted Clay’s fragile composure. “I feel sick.” Red light shone into Dream’s eyes; disorder pierced his thoughts, leaking a bitter crimson liquid into his psyche. Sapnap and his friend’s eager smiles, drowned in red, loomed over Clay like a three-headed beast. Every nerve of his body screamed at him to leave. “I-I gotta go.” 

-

The roof was empty except for Clay, and the night breeze’s whisper. Midnight darkness embraced his laying form, shading his already tanned limbs. The bareness of the sky left enough space for Clay - his thoughts meandered around the unending black, bouncing off shining stars. Scraps of music and yelling were the only reminder of the party Clay had escaped. 

Footsteps interrupted his perfect harmony. Sitting up on the rough concrete, Clay was ready to shoo the intruder, but a pale boy entered his sight. “Raven?” He greeted. 

Moonlight reverberated against Raven as lowered himself on the concrete. “It’s me.” He looked different in soft white light - faint shadows gently danced across his face where darker ones once cut. “I never got your name.” Stars looked at home as they reflected in his dark eyes. 

It had been five days since Monday - since their lives had connected for the first time. “My name?” Clay - that was his name, that was the word that represented his entire being. Clay runs away from parties, and Clay is awkward around strangers, and Clay goes to the edges of bridges trying to escape himself, and Clay wants to be anything but Clay right now. “I picked a name for you, why don’t you pick one for me?” 

“Hm.” Raven’s scarlet lips curved into a knowing smile as he stared into Clay’s eyes. “Dream.” He sounded so sure, it was as if Dream was written somewhere on his mossy irises. 

The name was perfectly new - unharmed by the past’s pervasive touch. “Dream.” It tasted like sweet sugar on his tongue. “Dream.” He tilted his head back, letting the name shoot into the night sky. “Dream.” His speech was slurred by light laughter. 

Raven started to giggle. With amusement tickling every part of his face, he looked celestial. His smile shone like pale moonlight. Crinkles from his deep grin were craters, disrupting his smooth expanse of skin. Space dusk freckled across his cheeks. 

Dream didn’t understand how a world filled with so much stale mediocrity was the same world a boy as beautiful as Raven existed in. He was waiting for gravity to untether Raven from the ground. Maybe he would scream while he was seized into the sky, or maybe he would smile while he took his rightful place in the universe; maybe the stars would dimmer with quiet jealousy. 

“I think we were destined to meet, you and me,” Raven whispered once his blooming giggles wilted into silence. “We should skip the start.” 

Every word Raven spoke left a bread crumb in front of Clay; he followed the unexplored path without question, each scrap leading him further and further into a void he neither recognized nor had the tools to decipher. “The start?” 

“Yeah, you know the awkward hump at the beginning of every friendship. Let’s skip that” The jumble of ropes Clay couldn’t detangle slowly unknotted, as Raven explained, “We can pretend we’re in that little story you made up.”

“We’ve been friends for years?” He clarified. 

A wicked smile broke onto Raven’s face. “We have, Dream.” His voice was gravelly and deep. 

It could be easy to mistake the depth of his as free-flowing like the ocean. His words were inviting - intriguing. They persuade stranger’s to leap into their seemingly endless depths. What moved and gleamed like water, crushed their bones like concrete. 

In reality, his voice was deep like the earth. There were solid layers of rock within his tone and molten lava deep within his inflections. If one took the time to sift through the expansive bounds of his speech, after removing grass and dirt, glistening minerals lay untouched within him. 

“We have,” He affirmed. Raven’s presence was a smooth wave washing over his back. “So, even when we’re alone?” 

Dream wanted very badly to be his friend. Though he had only seen the boy once before, his dark eyes pulled Dream in like a black hole. Would that be what it felt like to be his friend, he asked himself, would his burning eye contact always turn his mind to soot. He couldn’t think of a person he wanted to be friends with more. 

A loud breath left Raven’s mouth. He fidgeted with his pale fingers before getting up. “Especially when we’re alone.” Each word fell into the palm of Dream’s hand. Delicately, he turned them over, fruitlessly searching every crevasse for a meaning he didn’t find. “I’ll see you around, Old Friend.”

Before he could object, Raven left. If given the chance, Dream would have asked him to stay.

-

“Get you fucking stinky feet away from me Sapnap, I’m trying to do my work.”

The past week had been tiring, as had his entire college career. Clay’s time was been spent completing assignment after assignment. Just when the constant bombardment of work seemingly paused, just when he put his aching brain down to rest, another unwanted piece of work became his burden. 

“I’m sorry, Clay. I thought that would help.” Sapnap took his feet off of Clay’s lap and got up from his bed. “You just need to calm down, Man. You haven’t taken a break in ages.” He crossed his arms. “You know what, I’m not leaving you alone until you get out of your room.”

This week’s workload sliced deeper into Clay than the ones of the past. It was usual for him, as an Engineering major, to have an onslaught of work. Today, and every day since last Friday’s party, he had been distracted. The silent attackers that disguised themselves as homework took perfect advantage of his recent absent-mindedness. 

Sapnap started clapping and snapping his hands in Clay’s face. Pushing him away, Clay silently pleaded with him to stop. He didn’t. Gibberish sprang from Sapnap’s mouth as continued distracting Clay, cultivating irritation in him.

“Sapnap, literally what is wrong with you?” He groaned, turning away from the noise. The sounds still leached into his ears as he covered himself with his thick comforter. White light from his laptop illuminated his irritated face, the small clock in the corner of the screen read 10 PM. “I hate you.” He yelled.

The cheap dorm light shone onto his blonde locks as Sapnap ripped the covers from his hunched form. “I told you, Dude. I’m not leaving you alone until you get out of your bed. We’re going to the club.” 

“Fine, Sapnap, I’ll take a stupid break.” He hopped Sapnap didn’t notice him sliding his computer under his arm. “Don’t follow me.” Walking towards his white door, he shot a warning look Sapnap’s way. “We’ll meet at the club.”

A look of great accomplishment spread on Sapnap’s face. “I knew you would agree!” 

Nodding, he left the room. He headed for a place Sapnap would never think to look because Sapnap didn’t even know what this place was. He was headed towards Raven’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try to update about once a week, but sometimes life is overwhelming sometimes so this may vary 
> 
> check out my twitter  
> @bloominglav
> 
> curious cat if you want to ask questions anon  
> curiouscat.qa/bloominglav

**Author's Note:**

> If you struggle with suicidal thoughts, I urge you to please reach out for help.  
> Hotlines: 
> 
> http://www.pleaselive.org/hotlines/
> 
> You are loved.
> 
> Updates on my Twitter @BloomingLav


End file.
